BOJ’s Shirakawa hopes intervention stabilises FX

OSAKA (Reuters): Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said he hopes that Tokyo’s currency market intervention on Monday will lead to market stability.

 “Recent yen rises can be explained as an example of Europe’s sovereign debt problems affecting Japan by strengthening global investors’ risk aversion,” Shirakawa said in a speech to business leaders in Osaka, western Japan.

 “Under such circumstances, the finance ministry intervened in the currency market today. The BOJ strongly hopes that such moves will lead to currency market stability.” Japan intervened to weaken the yen after the currency hit a record high against the dollar, saying it acted to counter speculative moves that did not reflect the health of the Japanese economy.

 The move came after the central bank last week eased monetary policy by boosting asset purchases, spurred by the yen’s rises to record highs, the global economic slowdown and Europe’s debt crisis, which threatened Japan’s recovery prospects.